Shortform Books

2 Narratives Borne Out of Elon Musk’s Charismatic Leadership

Why is there a market for electric vehicles? Why are people venturing into the arena of space travel? Economist Robert J. Shiller asserts that certain narratives take off and take hold because they receive influential endorsements. He credits the charismatic leadership of Elon Musk for two of these economic narratives. Keep reading to learn how Elon Musk’s charismatic leadership has captured our imagination in two sectors of the economy.

Abraham Lincoln’s Political Career (And There Was Light)

How and why did Abraham Lincoln get into politics? When did his centrist approach fail him? What song did he want played after the announcement of the Union’s victory? In And There Was Light, historian and biographer Jon Meacham discusses Abraham Lincoln’s political career, including the president’s actions during the Civil War. Meacham also provides some background information that sheds light on Lincoln’s politics and abilities. Continue reading to learn about Abraham Lincoln’s political career.

The 3 Most Effective Hiring Criteria for Businesses

What are the best hiring criteria for recruiters to follow? Should you look for the best of the best in your line of work? Most companies get skilled employees by identifying the most talented workers in their industry and stealing them away from other companies. However, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson advise against doing this. Check out below what Fried and Hansson recommend doing instead.

Britney Spears: Timeline of Her Most Defining Events

What’s the timeline of Britney Spears’ key events in her life? How did she go from a small-town girl to the biggest pop star in the world? Spears’s life story includes sadness and success. But despite the depth of her darkest moments, she insists the bad times don’t diminish the happiness she’s found through her music and raising her children. Let’s follow Britney Spears’s timeline through several key periods of change in her life.

The 3 Most Harmful Effects of Aging on Body Systems

What are the effects of aging on body systems? How do stem cells affect your body’s health? When body processes become less effective with age, the changes can wreak havoc. In Ageless, Andrew Steels looks at three systems where this loss of effectiveness does a lot of harm: your stem cells, your immune system, and your microbiome. Let’s take a better look at these effects of aging on the human body.

Managerial Decision-Making: What Does It Entail?

What’s managerial decision-making? How do you know if you’re making the right decision for the organization? It’s management’s role to make decisions based on issues affecting the whole organization. In The Essential Drucker, Peter Drucker asserts that at the executive level, managers should devote their time to making strategic, broad-ranging decisions, not solving low-level problems. Continue reading to learn what it takes to make managerial decisions.

Brief History of Amazon: From a Garage to Modern Success

What’s the brief history of Amazon? Where did Bezos come up with the idea of Amazon? Bezos’s story is the story of Amazon, the business he founded in 1994. Though Bezos doesn’t take all of the credit for the company’s success, it was he who shouldered the risk of creating an online retail store in a decade. Let’s break down Amazon’s history, from its beginnings in a garage to hurdling through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon (Overview)

Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? How did he make his money? How did he lose it? In just a few years, Sam Bankman-Fried went from being a relative nobody to the architect of a cryptocurrency empire whose net worth neared $30 billion. But, even quicker than his empire burst onto the scene, it crumbled. Continue reading for an overview of Michael Lewis’s Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.

The Benefits of Self-Confidence & How to Develop It

What are the benefits of self-confidence? How does having self-confidence impact you? Among the benefits of self-confidence is the ability to make meaningful life changes that stick. When you have more confidence in yourself, you have a better chance of succeeding when you try to make a change. Continue reading to learn how self-confidence can help you succeed at your goals.

Responses to Trauma: A Case Study on Sexual Abuse in Children

What are some common responses to trauma? What can we learn from a deep dive into the effects of childhood trauma? Responses to trauma vary depending on the associations you make surrounding the traumatic experience. By looking at an example of this, we can see how trauma impacts behaviors. Read on to learn about how the brain forms associations with trauma via this case study.